There are six elements that impact and control the world. Religion, media, politics, economics, education and health:

RELIGION

Religion controls the masses with a system of beliefs that has set standards, morals and values for generation.

African-Americans have been taught since leaving the sunny African shores, that obedience, faith and religion go hand in hand in helping control society and shaping order from what would be chaos without it.

Religion and its messages from the Bible makes society feel good and feeds the notion that doing good to your fellow man is the highest order of service and makes the world a better place. Our lives, families and generations follow blindly convinced that good living and prosperous giving will lead to eternal bliss and a pass through the pearly gates.

Church leaders have a God complex and the willing followers go along with whatever they are told. There comes a point when the masses are no longer able to think for themselves and believe the rants of anyone who’s in a position of authority.

We must understand that Religion is political and believers in God are spiritual. There’s a huge difference between the two. Religion is not a bad thing, it is how church leaders, pastors and some have used religious teachings and dogma to control the composition of the government and control the voting, thinking of communities and a country.

MEDIA

Media is the next most powerful force that controls the world. It has been said that he who controls information controls. The media uses its power in a way to tilt the masses to think, vote, believe, behave and buy the way it wants. The public again does not think for itself, but makes decisions off surveys and poll numbers generated not from fact, but opinion. From television, to newspapers to social media, information is driving the way you live, what you drive, how you dream and what you do on a daily basis. Some in media work to create and promoted negative images of Blacks. President Obama has been a victim of media that still cannot come to grips with a Black president. Some work hard to criticize, disrespect and find fault in him all to make Black leadership appear indecisive and incompetent

We must understand its motive and powers and how it has caused African-Americans to settle for less and underachieve because of its negative images in the media and bad messages to our community. We must understand this power and set a course to march to the beat of our own drummer.

POLITICS

Politics is the next element that controls the world because of its direct impact on our lives. African-Americans need to understand that all politics is local because that is where we have most of our contact with the system from taxes, to streets, to school board policies to laws governing city and county services and operations.

The underbelly of politics is real and can be seen clearly in the battles over the Affordable Health Care Act, the extension of the Farm Bill that cut millions from the food stamp program and the government shutdown that crippled unemployment programs and pensions.

Electing good servant leaders who want to truly work the will of the people is the best way we can direct political power and use it to our advantage. When we don’t vote or go to the polls, we allow people to come into power who rape the system, become bourgeois aristocrats that make puppets of you, take away your voice and control every aspect of your life.

ECONOMICS

Economics is the element that has African-Americans traveling on a new kind of slave ship called dependency. We have left the old paths of supporting ourselves, developing our own businesses and shopping in our own neighborhoods. That has contributed to the deterioration of neighborhood from strong Black businesses and bustling business centers to boarded up, rundown ragged structures and talk of how it used to be. We have been convinced to shop at malls and big box stores instead of concentrating on our own community and owning and supporting our own businesses. That loss of economic clout has left us without the ability to set our own course and chart our own destiny. As a people, African-Americans have one of the highest unemployment rates in the country and depend far too heavy on votes in Austin or Congress on reparations, unemployment, SSI or other forms of government assistance to relieve us of our burdens. We must do a better job of supporting our own and that will give us the freedom, ability and power to build and grow businesses and hire our own.

EDUCATION

Education is another key element that controls the world. African-Americans must understand that education is a game changer and without it, it is hard to compete in this 21st Century economy. What makes it more difficult is more and more African-American children are struggling to find their place and purpose and the education system has not been friendly enough to get the message across that a complete education is far better than dropping out of school or waiting for prince charming or hoping to win the lottery.

We must understand that we must balance the scales of education and demand the kind of equality that guarantees us equal access to the best teachers and role models that look like us and the same resources in our neighborhood schools that suburban schools enjoy.

We hold the key and must demand a school system based on equality to make sure Black children can develop to full potential.

The power is in our hand to demand better and support every child and make sure each youth sees value in education. We must step up because in this age of inequality, too many of our children are going to school with targets on their backs.

We do not want to be the one’s responsible for allowing any Black child’s skills to go to waste.

HEALTH

The sixth and final element that impacts the Black community is health. African Americans face many health problems that affect how long we live and how we feel about each other and ourselves. We must understand that our health is our wealth.

We are faced with high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, kidney problems, obesity and many other issues linked to the way we live.

Those risks have increased the cost of being African-American when it comes to insurance costs, medical expenses and overall self worth.

Our longevity is the key to maintaining our voice and power in society and gaining our independence over time. It takes healthy warriors to fight the battles and struggles we face as a people. Healthy living muse become the priority because only the strong will survive.